Monday, June 5, 2017

Hi everyone! This is Forrest. It has been a little over a month since we last updated and I have a lot to fill you in on!

Speaking to the crowd at Berklee after showing the movie

On May 10th, Mom and Dad rolled out to the Galapagos and Toliver, Tami and I went to Boston. My Music Therapist Tom was graduating from Berklee College of Music with a Masters in Music Therapy that week. We weren't able to go to his graduation, but we went for a special premiere of the documentary movie that Tom and I are in. We showed the film to a group of his music therapy peers and classmates. They thought it was very good and liked seeing how Music Therapy affected my situation.

Mini Golf at the Mall of America

The next day, Tami, Toliver and I flew to Minnesota. We went to Minnesota to see Tami's family. This was my first long trip away without either of my parents. While in Minnesota, we went to the Mall of America, the Minnesota Zoo and a Minnesota Twins baseball game. It was a great trip. One highlight was Toliver at the zoo. He was well behaved and when we saw the wolves, they put their front paws on the glass and seemed to recognize that Tollie is a canine. They were whining and wagging their tails like they wanted to play. Toliver was also the first dog ever in their new kangaroo walk-through exhibit!

With some of Tami's family at the zoo

At the Minnesota Twins Game!

Wolf saying "hi" to Toliver!

After we all returned from our adventures, I went with Mom and Dad to visit a friend named Lee Lee. Lee Lee has a Traumatic Brain Injury as well and is recovering at Bryn Mawr rehab in Pennsylvania. She is making tremendous progress since her accident in December!

With Lee Lee

This last weekend, Tom and I went to the Kennedy Center and spoke in front of a whole bunch of people about how music was a part of my recovery. We showed a segment from the documentary and then spoke for a bit. This was part of a big event on Friday and Saturday that was called "Sound Health: Music and the Mind" and it talked about the brain and it's connection to music. It was a partnership between the National Institute of Health and the Kennedy Center. I got to meet a lot of really cool and important people like - Musician Ben Folds, Musician Renee Fleming, and Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH. Here is a YouTube link to the panel that Tom and I were a part of on Saturday. Our part begins around minute 11! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzJB3oI4RHM&sns=fb

Shayna and Gio (not pictured) came for dinner and the Symphony on Friday and Corina and Madeline came to the see my panel on Saturday at the Kennedy Center!

And...speaking of the documentary, we have a new title! Most of you know it as "High Notes", but it is now "Music Got Me Here". Here is our first official poster! We will share the new website link soon!